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The Archer Historical Society was chartered on August 18, 1977 with seventy-four Charter Members.

The purpose of the organization is to preserve and protect those artifacts and structures peculiar to our heritage, to allow our progeny the privilege of enjoying those things upon which our nation, our state, and our community were founded.

Also to provide the community of Archer with an organization for young and old alike, with a common goal, thereby promoting unity, friendship and understanding among the citizens of our town.

The Old Seaboard Air Line Railroad Depot circa 1900

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A Brief Introduction To Archer

Prior to 1850, a town called Deer Hammock was established where the town of Archer is today. In 1858 The Florida Town Improvement Company, owned by the Florida Railroad Company, laid out a town here and named it Archer after General James T. Archer Florida's first Secretary of State (1845-49). The first trains stopped in Archer in 1859.

Archer is located in the southwest corner of Alachua County on gently rolling hammock land.

The first human occupants in the area were Paleo Indians, who made camps near Archer approximately ten thousand years ago. The only evidence left of these early people are spearheads, scrapers and other stone tools.

By the time Columbus discovered the New World in 1492, the Indians in Florida had begun to settle into more or less permanent villages, in loose tribal federations. The spot where Archer would someday be built lay in the heart of the Timucuan province. Villages dotted the area. Constructed near water or on fertile ground, these villages were laid out roughly in squares and contained anywhere from 25 to 250 buildings. The early Spanish explorers described these buildings as rectangular in shape, with sides thatched with grass or palmettos, and having a peaked roof of cane cut to resemble tiles. The center of the village was set aside for the public buildings such as the long house, the public square and the 'chunky yard' or playing field. Surrounding the village was a palisade of logs. (additional)

 


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